Today, Spotify and Sony Network Entertainment International LLC (SNEI) will launch an exclusive music experience, making it easier than ever for gamers to enjoy their favourite tracks whilst playing their favourite games. That’s right, the best in music is playing co-op with the best in gaming. So whether you’re diving off Parisian rooftops, battling the evil of Crota or playing Barcelona at the Camp Nou, you’re in charge of the soundtrack.

Soundtrack your game

With background listening on PlayStation®4 (PS4™) system, you can soundtrack your gaming sessions with your favourite tracks. You might die a few times at the hands (or claws) of memorably terrifying monsters in the critically-acclaimed action RPG Bloodborne™, so why not do it to the music of your choice? Upbeat pop, thumping hip-hop, soothing classical…with over 30 million tracks, we’ve got you covered either way.

On-demand music for everyone

Enjoy all of your favourite tunes on-demand. Pick one of your favourites from Your Music or Browse to find the perfect playlist for every mood and moment. We’ve even got a set of new gaming playlists for you.

No need to pause

Spotify Connect lets you skip tracks or turn up the music using your mobile device or tablet, without ever having to interrupt your gaming experience.

We know music has always been a big part of gaming and are excited to take the experience to a whole new level. With today’s launch, we’re bringing back that magic of gaming with music – all in a beautifully designed and smooth experience that looks great on your big screen. We have worked closely with PlayStation® to build an entirely new music experience which doesn’t just sound awesome, but also looks great on your TV and handles smoothly using the DualShock controller.

Spotify on PlayStation Music will roll out to PS3™ and PS4™ today and will also be available on Xperia™ smartphones and tablets.

Today we’re launching a desktop update with new features and improvements. First of all, we’re making lyrics a seamless part of the Spotify experience on desktop. Powered by Musixmatch, the world’s largest lyrics catalogue, the ability to sing along to your favourite tunes is just a click away.

Simply fire up any song on our desktop app and hit the new Lyrics button. You can also search and browse popular lyrics from Spotify’s top songs using the Explore feature.

We’re not just making your next sing-along better though. Here are a couple of other new features we’ve been working on:

- New and improved Friend Feed: now it’s easier than ever to discover what the people you care about are listening to. Simply scroll down the sidebar to see what playlists, songs and artists your friends are enjoying. - Introducing daily viral charts: serving you the most shared tracks around the world and in your region. Additionally, all charts now feature indicators to highlight new music and how tracks are performing day by day.

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These updates will roll out gradually to all desktop users over the coming weeks.

We are so excited to be returning to Austin for our 4th year to celebrate SXSW! From March 15 – 20, The Spotify House will be your go-to venue to unwind, discover the best new artists and take part in unique experiences.

Our 2015 line-up boasts 30+ must-see-acts including breakout talent Marian Hill, Conrad, Cam and many more. Everyday, we’ll have live performances on two stages, so come ready to rock. You can check out the full daily line-up here. We’ll also be serving up the best local Austin eats, curated by our friends at SUPPER.

To kick start each day, The Spotify House will be hosting a unique SoulCycle pop-up experience. Each morning, live DJ sets and the best fitness instructors in the world will take Spotify fans on the ride of their lives, set to a once in a lifetime musical experience. SoulCycle fans will be riding to some of the world’s best DJ’s, including Ryan Hemsworth and Hudson Mohawke throughout the week. Check out the daily schedule here to sign up for a ride.

We’ve also teamed up with Bose, Squarespace and truth to bring to life one-of-a-kind experiences for guests.

Bose: Spotify is excited to launch Unveiled in partnership with Bose at this year’s SXSW. Unveiled provides music fans with a once in a lifetime experience of seeing their favorite artists perform their newest or soon-to-be-released album live, for the first time. Inaugural artists include James Bay, MisterWives and other special guests. Music fans visiting The Spotify House will also experience the power of Spotify through Bose® SoundTouch™ Wi-Fi® music systems.

Squarespace: Each day at The Spotify House, Austin-based Squarespace visual artists explore the intersection between music and art, creating new pieces inspired by the music of the day.

truth Truck is making its way to Austin to inspire people to #FinishIt. truth Tour Riders will keep visitors entertained with special guest DJs scratching from the iconic orange truck and with #LeftSwipeDat themed listening booths.

For additional information about The Spotify House, RSVP now and follow us on our dedicated SXSW Spotify handle @sxspotify to stay up to date on the latest news! And, be sure to follow us on Vine, Instagram, Facebook and Snapchat for more information about our SXSW plans this year.

Father John Misty is an intense musician. Or, at least, very complicated. The project of ex-Fleet Foxes member Josh Tillman, the second LP, I Love You, Honeybear, was just released this past Tuesday. The album takes a broad, although at times unsettling close, look at love; all in Tillman’s cynical, mostly tongue-in-cheek tone.

Josh on his new album versus his debut, Fear Fun…

This album was definitely harder because I had to overcome my intense fear of being sentimental. This one is a lot more intense, a lot more vulnerable.

The album cover really articulates what the new album is. It’s an encounter with intimacy and what comes from that… what qualities manifest. Here it was a lot of jealousy and neediness. I kind of turned this woman into a sacred object instead of letting her be a human.

On “The Night Josh Tillman Came To Our Apt.”…

You have these two pretentious, misguided people. One of which is me. Obviously. It’s really important to me that this song isn’t a figurative kind of thing. No, this is about a thing that happened. What am I doing there? What did I want? Really I just wanted my narcissism and vanity fed. I wanted to be around people who didn’t demand any intimacy out of me.

On “Bored In The USA”…

If nothing else it’s a way for polite, white liberal people to point at a straw man version of the grotesque American. If you can’t see yourself in any part of that song then it’s not a good song.

On love and his wife, Emma…

Intimacy and love is not a passive, consumer experience. You have to make it for yourself.

Valentine’s Day is just around the corner and we were curious — how do our 60 million users use playlists to prepare for the big day of love?

With nearly 700k ‘Valentine’s’ playlists, 28 million ‘love’ playlists and nearly 2.5 million ‘sex’ playlists, we uncovered that Donna Lewis’ I Love You Always Forever is the top Valentine’s Day song in the world.

Check out these Top 10 Love Songs from “Valentine’s” playlists:

When it comes to songs that speak the universal language of love, John Legend’s All of Me comes in as the globe’s top love song. Explore this playlist of the top 10 Songs from “Love” playlists:

As for setting the mood, “sex” playlists are created by 56% male vs. 44% females and Intro by The xx ranks in as the top sex song. Hit play here to discover the top 10 songs from “Sex” playlists:

Fun fact: Most Valentine’s Day playlists on Spotify were created by men – 63% in fact!

Looking for some musical inspiration this V-Day? Look no further than our “Sweet Spot” playlist generator, which will take you and your lover on a journey of discovery between your favorite musical artists. Simply choose your favorite artist and select the favorite artist of your special someone to reveal how many degrees of musical separation exist between the two of you. Sweet Spot will then generate a playlist for you to share. Find it at Spotify-Valentines.com.

It feels like NERVO is on top of the world. Or maybe that’s just the effect of their huge, new House anthem (aptly called “It Feels”). The Australian duo, made up of sisters Mim and Liv Nervo, just released the track for an exclusive two week pre-stream on Spotify.

We asked the endlessly busy group to sit down and respond to our pressing questions about their life, such as, “What’s it like DJing next to your sister every night for the past decade?” They were kind enough to give us some answers…

Liv: Mostly it’s nothing but positivity and having good time. Though sometimes, it can get a bit sticky. We have slight arguments about what to play next, but we pretty much love it… We usually plan the beginning and the end of every set, then in the middle we just play whatever the crowd is vibing to the most!

What differences do the two of you have, in terms of musical taste?

Liv: We both generally like and can see the beauty in most music, from a range of genres. Though Mim might bring me something from the deep house world, that I love and have never heard, or vice versa. Mim tends to lean towards the deep house world, while I like more of the tech house grooves.

The night was surely unpredictable but also, unforgettable. From Beck’s huge win, performances that ranged from Hozier to Paul McCartney and everything that makes Music’s Biggest Night always a must watch.

Beck came home with Album of the Year and is already at 18 million streams and counting… The list of winners includes the best of the best with another well-known star showing up numerous times: Sam Smith. Whether it was Pharrell’s symphonic rendition of ‘Happy’ or Katy Perry’s emotional performance, the evening surely lived up to the hype.

Record of the Year: Sam Smith – “Stay With Me (Darkchild Version)”

Song of the Year: Sam Smith – “Stay With Me (Darkchild Version)”

Album of the Year: Beck – “Morning Phase”

Best New Artist: Sam Smith

Best Pop Duo/Group Performance: A Great Big World With Christina Aguilera – “Say Something”

One of music’s biggest nights, the 57th annual Grammy Awards, will take place this Sunday February 8th. To celebrate, we’ve looked at streams as a way to predict who will take home a GRAMMY in four of the night’s top categories: Album Of The Year, Record of The Year, Song of The Year and Best New Artist.

To predict the winners, we compiled global data on the top streamed songs, albums and artists in each of the categories. Additionally, we analyzed the listening habits of our 60 million users across the world to look at the most viral songs, albums, and artists in those categories to predict the possible “dark horses.”

Sia’s Chandelier was the most streamed song globally in the Record and Song Of The Year categories, additionally ranking most viral in the Record Of The Year category. Hozier’s Take Me To Church is the most viral song in the Song Of The Year category. For Album Of The Year, Ed Sheeran’s X was the most streamed album, with Pharrell Williams’ G I R L being the most viral. In the Best New Artist category, Ed Sheeran was the most streamed artist and Bastille was the most viral* artist.

Most Streamed Record of the Year

Chandelier – Sia

Stay With Me – Sam Smith

Fancy – Iggy Azalea feat. Charli XCX

All About That Bass – Meghan Trainor

Shake It Off – Taylor Swift**

Most Streamed Album of the Year

Ed Sheeran – X

Sam Smith – In The Lonely Hour

Pharrell Williams – G I R L

Beyoncé – Beyoncé

Beck – Morning Phase

Most Streamed Song of the Year

Chandelier – Sia

Stay With Me – Sam Smith

All About That Bass – Meghan Trainor

Take Me To Church – Hozier

Shake It Off – Taylor Swift**

Best New Artist

Sam Smith

Iggy Azalea

Bastille

HAIM

Brandy Clark

Dark Horse Winner Predictions, Based on Virality*

Record of the Year

Sia – Chandelier

Album of the Year

Pharrell Williams – G I R L

Song of the Year

Hozier – Take Me to Church

Best New Artist

Bastille

Who do you think will win? Tune in this weekend for the Award Show and listen to nominated GRAMMYs artists here!